Artillery (Red Alert)
The Artillery was the Allies' primary anti-building weapon during the Second World War. Background In the years between the First and Second World War, many nations developed early self-propelled artillery weapons. This was usually done by simply mounting a howitzer on a modified tank chassis (often making use of obsolete tanks for this purpose), but some designs also had purpose-built chassis. By the time war began, most Allied nations had fielded some form of self-propelled artillery, and many more were produced during the war. The most common configuration was a 155mm howitzer mounted on a lightly armoured tracked chassis, firing ballistic HE rounds. Allied commanders generally used it to bombard enemy bases and fortifications, but it was also highly effective as a long-range antipersonnel weapon. Although effective against Soviet defenses, Tesla coils had even greater range than artillery pieces, and enough power to melt them to scrap in one blast. In-game Unit Artillery is a highly effective and long range way to deal with infantry and soften up enemy formations. Because of its lack of proper armour, slow speed, and very slow turn rate, it is very vulnerable to enemy fire, particularly by tanks. It is also outranged by Tesla coils. It thus performs best when it is guarded by more expendable or tougher units, such as tanks or infantry. Compared to the V2 rocket launcher used by the Soviets, Artillery are slightly cheaper, fire much more rapidly, have shorter range, and deal less damage per shot. Legacy Tiberium Universe These weapons remained in the arsenals of many armies after the war for many years, despite being gradually phased out and replaced with more advanced artillery systems. It was upgraded with a bigger cannon with its own improved HE projectile and became the artillery unit of the Brotherhood of Nod in the First Tiberium War. Red Alert Universe The Artillery was phased out and replaced by the Prism tank during the Third World War. Its anti-tank role was taken over by the Tank destroyer during the Psychic Dominator Disaster. Assessment Pros *Effective against infantry, light vehicles and buildings. *Cheaper than the V2 rocket launcher ($450). *Causes splash damage. *Can take out multiple infantry with a single hit. *Outranges all base defenses except Tesla coil. *Outranges some vehicles. *Able to fire over walls. Cons *Weak armor. *Vulnerable to anti-vehicle units. *Ineffective against heavily armoured vehicles. *Unable to protect itself at close range (has a minimal range to attack). *Slow moving. *Useless against aircraft. *Useless against fast moving targets. Gallery Artillery TW1.gif|Tiberian Dawn manual render scan RA1_Artillery_French_Icons.gif|Icon with French text RA1_ Artillery_Russian_Icons.gif|Icon with Russian text Trivia The Artillery appears to be a fictional design, depicted with a cannon vaguely resembling the 203mm cannon used on the M110 Howitzer, although the chassis is entirely different from that of the M110, and the in-game artillery is identified as having a 155mm cannon instead. Some real-life vehicles to plausibly fill the artillery role during Red Alert's time period include the French Mk F3 which had a 155mm cannon, and the German Hummel which had a 150mm cannon. Category:Red Alert 1 vehicles Category:Red Alert 1 Allied Arsenal